Nemesis
by Andy Page
Summary: -chapter 2 uploaded- Set after season 7, a new evil is set to destroy the world, but can buffy, the scoobies and the army of slayers stop it? please R
1. Chapter one: Hell

****

- Chapter One -

Hell

There was total silence, blackness and the foul stench of death and evil. Sam couldn't see anything, he was drenched in sweat and blood, and he was in pure agony. When he finally found the strength to open his eyes he saw something, something he could not believe. It was a massive cavern, filled with ancient pathways and statues of grotesque figures of what looked like monsters holding the heads of men and women. He saw that there was fire everywhere and as he inhaled his lungs started to burn. He only knew one place that could be this horrific, Hell.

He noticed he was being dragged over the ground, held by tall cloaked figures, their faces completely hidden but as he peered into the hood he felt a sudden coldness sweep through him and the urge to vomit. He felt his strength drain away and he fainted.

***

The blackness swept in, he could see himself and he was with another girl, he couldn't remember her name, but he seemed to know her from somewhere. It was nighttime, they were running from something, they ran through a dark forest, through an overgrown field, into a graveyard where they were finally cornered by monstrous things. They were like men but twice as tall, covered in rusty ancient armor inscribed with runes and they had rotting flesh, had no eyes and a gaping hole for a mouth and held in their hands were large ancient swords that were at least as long as Sam's height. Sam and the girl backed away, then one of them stepped forward, his face hidden in shadow but he knew he was their leader. He drew his sword back and stabbed the girl in the stomach, Sam screamed then the familiar darkness swept over him.

***

He opened his eyes and found that he was in a small cell, empty apart from a hole and two large mounds of dirt and on one of them was a blond woman who looked as if she was in her twenties, she was very pretty save from the cuts and bruises that were all over her and her cloths looked like they haven't been washed for at least a year. He saw the door at one wall, it was old and wooden with steel plates across it and on the other side of the wall was a small opening from which he saw mountains of fire and lakes of molten rock. The heat was nearly unbearable. He walked carefully over to the woman, she look like she was asleep.

"Uhh… hello…" Sam muttered to the woman.

She woke up, jumped up and crouched in the corner of the cell, she looked scared out of her mind and he couldn't blame her.

"I… I won't hurt you… it's OK…" said Sam in a mellow voice.

The girl just looked around the room, put her hands over her eyes and started rocking up and down, tears streaming over her hands.

"What's your name?" Sam asked, but it was no use, the woman looked like she had gone crazy, he was pretty close to a mental break down too.

His memory had large gaps in it, he'd remember odd bits of his childhood and a few flashes of the situation that was likely to have brought him to Hell but that was about it. He concentrated, focused with all his might to remember something and then he had a flashback. 

***

He saw himself again but he was young, about thirteen or fourteen but he was with a tall man who looked over sixty years old and he was wearing long black robes.

"You're crazy," he heard himself say to the man.

"I assure you I am quite the opposite, you have to listen to me and accept your destiny," said the old man.

"I don't care alright, just leave me alone."

"They killed you're mother and father Sam…"

"What?"

"You saw them remember? The demons, you saw them kill your parents."

"I didn't see that, they were…"

"Muggers? Yes I've heard you say that before, it is not true, you know it, I know it. You are the One and they tried to kill you and all you hold dear. They will not stop until they find you."

"Stay… Stay away from me, leave me alone!"

He ran, he ran as fast as he can, past old women who grunted what sounded like 'kids' but he didn't care, he kept running through the alleyways and dark streets when he finally stopped and leaned against a wall to catch his breath. He slowly closed his eyes to picture his parents, then suddenly the old man appeared in front of him.

"You can keep running Sam but I will always find you. I will not stop until you've heard what I have to say."

"I call the police!" Sam shouted.

"Go ahead, they won't find me."

"What do you want!"

"To teach you, to train you, I want you to accept what you are. You are the One whether you like it or not."

Sam bowed his head trying to sort out the buzzing thoughts in his head. He had saw demons the night his parents were murdered a year ago but he tried to convince himself that they were just muggers wearing realistic Halloween masks. But deep down he always knew what they were. He looked at the old man, who to his surprised, smiled as if he knew what he was thinking.

"Who are you?" asked Sam.

"The name's David."

Sam's mind flashed forward again, this time it was several months later, and he and David were inside an old church which was in ruins and looked hundreds of years old. He saw himself and the man from a distance, they were fighting, armed with wooden staffs they fought furiously, their movements blurred by the sheer speed at which they were moving. Sam lunged at David who dodged the staff at remarkable speed. He was surprisingly agile for a man of his age. Sam swung the staff again and struck him in the arm and the chest. David staggered on to the floor, rose again and smiled.

"Excellent, you are a fast learner, Sam," said David who despite the physical trauma he must have had, looked as if he mealy walked across a road.

***

Sam suddenly felt a feeling rush through him, then a sudden wave of knowledge made it's way into Sam's mind, he remembered, he remembered everything that David had taught him, hand to hand combat, how to use melee weapons and –_magic_. He remembered most of the spells that David had taught him, but the majority of the magicks that had been taught to him involved fire, he didn't exactly know why but he seemed to be better at fire magic than any other type. Though he had been rather good at telekinesis, which David said, was one of the hardest branches of magic to most people. The only thing he couldn't remember was why he was learning all these things from David, he remembered him saying something about his destiny and that Sam was 'the One' but nothing else.

Sam slowly slipped into consciousness and found himself in the fetal position over a mound of dirt, the woman staring at him fearfully. Then a thought occurred to him, he could try and escape, he was in hell, but he, Sam could control fire, he had the advantage but he did not know how many unspeakably horrific monsters existed there. But he didn't care, they can't exactly kill him if he is already dead can't they?

Sam sat in the cell for days, still plotting his escape, estimating what situations he would be up against should he try to escape, thinking of useful spells that would help him. The woman still hadn't shown signs of sanity, she mumbled odd things but didn't acknowledge that Sam was even there. He looked in her eyes from time to time, wondering what on earth she could have done to be brought here but Sam suddenly realised something, why was he here? What could he have done to deserve being sent to hell, he had never done anything seriously bad like murder but he had large gaps in his memory, maybe he had done something to deserve this, maybe he shouldn't escape.

Sam pulled himself together and focused on the door. "_Break_" he thought, "_just shatter_".

As he thought that, the door shattered into a million pieces, for a moment he was dazed but he ran to gaping hole where the door used to be. He stopped for a moment and looked at the girl who was whimpering, crouched in the corner of the cell again.

"Come with me," said Sam.

The girl looked into his eyes and for the first time Sam noticed that the woman could understand him.

"Don't you want to get out of here? Don't you want to be free?"

She smiled widely, a tear trickled down her cheek. "_Willow…_" she whispered.

Sam didn't have any idea what she was talking about but before he could ask her, she was on her feet, walked towards him and nodded.

Together, they ran down the dungeon corridors, past countless cells and Sam was surprised that they had not encountered any guards of any kind. Soon enough, at the end of the corridor they encountered a tall cloaked figure armed with a long sword, it saw them and wailed a high pitched roar. It raised it's sword but Sam focused and summoned the sword, which flew towards him, and he grasped it from air. The guard lunged towards the girl but Sam slashed the sword and the guard turned dust. They broke through the door and they found themselves in the huge cavern which was full of monsters in cloaks and many people bound by heavy iron chains being whipped by what looked like giant trolls with a whip in one hand and a large hammer in the other hand.

They both looked at each other as they saw that every single monster in the cavern stared at them, Sam and the girl sprinted to the far end to the cavern as fast as they could to the large bronze door which opened as they were in its shadow. To Sam's surprise none of the demons had followed them but carried on with whatever they were doing. The door fully opened and they saw another large cavern but there was no floor, instead a massive lake of molten rock, and on the other side was a large gateway with a door which looked like it was made out of black water. This had to be the way out, but how were they going to get across the lake of magma? Sam sighed hopelessly, this is why the demons didn't follow them, there was no way out, it was just out of reach. Sam looked into the lake, there was some thing moving beneath it, the magma was slowly rising and from it emerged a giant, it was looked like it was made of the molten rock and it towered to the top of the huge cavern which was at least twice as big as a large football stadium. The girl started to walk back towards the now closed bronze door, they were trapped, but Sam would rather face the giant than live for an eternity in that cell.

He looked straight into glowing eyes of the lava giant and grinned. Again he focused his thoughts and a ball of flames appeared on his right hand, he threw the fireball straight into the eye of the giant, rock and red lava gushed out of the hole that was formed in its head. Out of pure rage the lava giant punched one of the walls of the cavern and pulled out a large boulder and threw it at them, Sam couldn't do anything, it was moving to fast and he didn't have enough time to recover from the last spell he did. The girl beside him suddenly shouted something in a language that he couldn't understand and the boulder was transfigured into a flock of doves which fluttered away and faded. Sam was slightly taken back, the girl seemed to have a lot of power, when she looked at him, she seemed to have recovered from the insanity. 

They looked back at the giant who was ready to throw another boulder but they were ready this time, the girl muttered something and Sam mustered his power and threw a beam of fire straight to the giant's chest and the girl fired hails of ice at the same area. The giant suddenly turned black and crumbled to the lake of magma, which after the remains of the giant sank from view turned into solid rock.

The girl and Sam looked into each other's eyes, smiled and ran towards the door at the other end. They stopped as they reached the liquid black door.

"Do you think it's safe?" Sam asked

The woman didn't say anything but nodded. Feeling slightly reassured, Sam stepped through it and the blonde girl followed. Sam felt a familiar coldness rush through him as he span through the black nothingness until he and the girl emerged in the middle of a familiar graveyard, it was nighttime and the full moon was shining brightly upon them. The both got up from the ground, slightly shaken and looked at each other again.

"So are you gonna tell me your name?" he asked the girl. She smiled again.


	2. Chapter two: They were meant to be

****

- Chapter Two -

They were meant to be

"Tell me a story," asked Willow sleepily as she lied in Tara's comfy double bed.   


"Okay," she replied. They both were watching Miss Kitty Fantastico playing happily on the floor and privately they agree that she looked so cute. Tara thought for moment and a made up a little story that popped into her head.  


"Once upon a time… there was … um… a kitty. She was very little… and she was all alone and nobody wanted her," Tara began.  


"This is a very upsetting story," said Willow  


"Oh, it gets better," Tara answered, grinning cutely, " 'Cause one day the kitty was running around on the street and a man came and swooped her up." 

"And he took her to the pound. And at the pound there were lots of other kitties, and there were puppies, and some ferrets," she continued.

"Were there dolphins?" Willow asked eagery.  


Tara grinned, "Yes. Many dolphins at the pound," she answered.  


"Was there a camel?"  


Tara thought for a moment and decided to go along with her. "There was the front of a camel. A half-camel."  


"Did the kitty get chosen by some people?" Willow asked, as she slowly began to drift asleep.   


"Well, now you've ruined the ending. There was a whole exciting middle part with the French-"

There was a gunshot, the glass cracked and a bullet went through Tara's heart. She fell slowly to the ground.

"Tara! Baby! Tara no! Please!" Willow screamed, weeping over her dead lover.

***

Willow awoke, tears were streaming from her eyes as she slowly got up and slammed the alarm cloak. She looked at the other side of the double bed, it was empty and Willow felt lonelier than ever. It had been a month since Buffy, the scoobies and a few slayers moved into a large detached house in a town called Clayton which was only a few miles away from where Sunnydale used to be. 

After the battle with the First, Buffy decided that it would be best if the slayers split up and head to different downs to eradicate each hellmouth systematically. Faith and about twelve other slayers went to Cleveland while Buffy and the rest went to Clayton which apparently has a hellmouth underneath a football stadium. They figured that they will be staying there for a while so Buffy decided to rent a house but nobody had any money. Fortunately it turned out that Andrew and Anya robbed a bank after their visit to the hospital, Andrew said that Anya thought they may need the money should they be moving on to another place. 

A few hours before Faith and her team of Slayers were due to depart, Willow had a bad surprise.

"I'm leaving," said Kennedy, "I'm going with Faith."

"But…" Willow protested holding back her tears.

"You're still in love with her Willow, I hear you talk in your sleep."

"I'm sorry that the image of my dead girlfriend still makes it's way into my dreams," wept Willow, her rage was building, "she was only the love of my life, she only died in my arms…"

"You still love her don't you Willow?"

"Yes, I do… I will always love her and there's nothing you or anyone can do about it."

"I know, that's why I have to go for a while… you need space to get over…"

"Don't say that, I will never get over it… we were meant to be forever… I…"

"Goodbye Willow," said Kennedy finally as she kissed Willow one last time on her cheek.

After a while, Willow chose to forget about her, to put her out of her mind and focus on helping Xander. Xander was possibly the only person who felt as bad and as depressed as everyone else. When Anya died, Xander took it pretty badly, he lost the brightness about him that Willow had always admired. The fact that he could make crude jokes in the face or death was one of his trade marks. The loss of his eye didn't help matters, he would occasionally make a hollow joke about his one eye but Willow could sense the feeling of dread that he carried with him. So she decided to help him, to find a spell that would heal his eye but so far she found nothing.

Willow decided to get up and get dressed and meet with the rest of the gang. When she was ready she trotted down the stairs and met them at the breakfast table. Andrew was cooking waffles in the toaster, Buffy was reading the newspaper which was rather odd, Giles was reading a book and Dawn was eating some cereal. Willow could see a few of the slayers lying outside in the garden giggling about something and eating sandwiches.

"Hi," she said as she helped herself to cereal.

"Hi Willow, you alright?" asked Dawn.

"Yep, peachy, why?

"Oh, I heard you, uh, talking… in your sleep."

Dawn suddenly became really interested in her cereal and started eating, throwing curious glances at her every few seconds.

"It was just a bad dream that's all."

Willow turned her attention to Buffy, "Buffy… Buffy!"

"Oh, sorry Will just reading the news," said Buffy who was slightly startled.

"You're reading the newspaper?"

"Yep… turns out there's been an increase in odd disappearances… three guesses why and… oh my god."

Buffy showed Willow a school picture of a girl and a boy, they looked about the same age as Dawn. Then Willow looked at the headline which said, 'female student brutally murdered, boyfriend suspect'.

"Oh… do you think that a demon…"

"I don't know, maybe, it says the girl was found in the graveyard so I suppose…"

Buffy placed the newspaper onto the table and began to eat her toast. The second the newspaper touched the table Dawn swept it off the table and began to read.

"Oh my God…" Dawn moaned.

"I know honey it's terrible," said Willow.

"No, it's just that… I know them! They're in the same class as me. Oh my God."

She put wiped her eyes and dropped the newspaper.

"How can they say that about Sam, he would never…"

"Dawn, people can get really crazy about love. Remember, the guy who couldn't get the girl so he became Jeckel and Hyde."

"You didn't know them, Sam and Anna, they were just… so in love. Anna sometimes talked to me about him, I got real jealous when she told me about a necklace he bought her."

"I'll do some patrolling tonight then, see if I can get any info about the disappearances. I bet it's just another gang of vamps, no big. Giles could you… Giles, Giles!"

Giles snorted as he woke up suddenly, apparently he fell asleep whilst reading his book, "Oh, sorry, yes. It's just this books so mind numbingly boring I… yes well, you were sating Buffy."

"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd finally get bored of reading books," said Buffy smiling.

"You try reading this… this drivel and see if you can stay awake."

Buffy looked at the cover and pulled a disgusted expression and pushed it away.

"One thousand and one uses for dung in magicks…" Buffy said, Willow raised an eyebrow.

"I'm looking for a spell to help Xander…"

"And you'll find it there because?" asked Willow.

"There is a certain spell somewhere inside this book, it's a powerful healing spell which should be able to…."

"… Grow Xander's eye back," said Andrew eagerly as he joined them at the table, "can I help? I can do a few spells…"

"No, Willow and I will be doing the spell, if I can find the bloody thing. Anyway Buffy you were saying."

"Do you think you could take over tonight, you know in training the girls, I think I'll be doing patrol for a long time tonight."

"Why can't they come with you?" asked Giles. 

"I think they'll get in the way, there not exactly experienced, we've only just recruited a few of them, I don't want anymore casualties."

"Fine…" Giles mumbled.

Willow looked at her watched and suddenly realised they had to get Dawn to school.

"Buffy, we have to take Dawn to school, she's gonna be late."

"Oh, yeah, hang on," she said as she finished her toast and put her jacket on.

"Come on," Buffy said to Dawn. Dawn groaned, got sluggishly off the chair, picked up her bag and ran to the front door, Willow closely followed. 

***

The moon became hidden behind the clouds and the darkness set over the graveyard. Sam was worried, he could feel that something wasn't quite right and he could sense the evil that surrounded where he and the girl were standing. 

Sam turned to the girl and said in a faint whisper, "I think we should run, what do you think?"

The blonde looked at him, Sam could see the pure fear in her eyes, and he knew that she could feel the presence too. She suddenly grabbed his arm and they both started running as fast as they could. Sam knew this place, they were in Clayton, he knew this was where he lived though he couldn't remember his address. However, he knew that every night he came down here to hunt the monsters. 

He didn't know how long they ran but suddenly the woman stopped abruptly which made Sam trip over and fall flat on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked massaging his chin.

"Willow…" she whispered.

"_Willow_? What are you talking about?

She started running again, leaving Sam behind and he was certain nothing good could come out of this. He got up and started to run after her but she was really fast, he started to feel lightheaded and pain started to shoot through his legs. 

"Wait!" Sam shouted helplessly, "Come back!"

He kept on running where he finally caught up to her and grabbed her arm tightly. She tried to squirm away but he gripped tighter.

"Stop!" she shouted, "I n- n-need to find her!"

"Find who?" said Sam who was slightly surprised, she hadn't spoken much if at all since he met her, and if she did say something it didn't make any sense.

"L-let go of me!" she screamed.

"I can't, you could get- ARRG!"

Sam was thrown off his feet and hit his head on the gravestone, stars burst before his eyes and he had trouble stopping himself from blacking out. Then a different slim blonde girl wearing jeans and a leather jacket walked up to him, she was feet from him when she sized him up. Somehow Sam knew this was a girl no one would like to get on the bad side of. 

"So not a vampire eh? Hang on a minute, you're Sam aren't you? You murdered that girl, you know I actually thought that you might be innocent, that it was some vampires. But I'm telling you now; there is no way on earth that I'm going to let you hurt that girl. If you want her, you'll have to go through me." 

She looked at the other girl who was crouched on the muddy floor and muttered, "It's gonna be OK, I won't let him…"

She stopped mid-sentence and stared at the girl and said, "Tara?"

"B-B-Buffy…" the girl called Tara muttered.

Sam tried to get up but Buffy kicked him hard in chest and went flying into another tombstone. He fought off the unconsciousness as stars buzzed before his eyes again. 

He lost his strength and the darkness set. 

***

He was in school, walking down the corridor. Sam guessed that he was fifteen at this time. He noticed someone, a girl and she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had long ginger hair that glittered gently, she had hazel eyes that sparkled and her smile was so warm and gorgeous that Sam almost fainted on the spot. Sam started to walk towards her to ask her name but he abruptly stopped when a tall muscular boy stepped in front of him and pushed him to the floor.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he shouted with rage, "She's my girl, stay away from her or I'll…"

He punched Sam hard in the stomach causing him to cough up blood. The girl looked terrified.

"Stop it Mike!" she shouted grabbing his arm.

He looked at her with a maddening look in his eyes, "Are you going out with this loser behind my back!"

"I'm not going out with you and I never will just go away you prick!"

"No one talks to me like that!" He raised his arm and moved to slap her but before he could, Sam kicked the bottom his legs and Mike fell backwards howling in pain. They looked at each other for a moment, Mike scowled and then ran down the corridor. The girl helped Sam up and smiled at him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine, I probably shouldn't have done that," said Sam.

"Don't worry about it, he's a jerk. What's your name by the way?"

"It's Sam Redwood."

"I'm Anna Davis."

They smiled at each other and Sam walked her to class, occasionally they caught each other's eyes and blushed.

Sam and Anna were in a park, sitting under the shadow of a tree talking things like music, their favorite television programs and funny things that happened to them in the past. Then, out of the blue it seemed, they kissed. It was their first kiss. They put their arms around each other and they watched the dancing butterflies flutter over flowers nearby.

Suddenly they were somewhere else, in the middle of a forest at night. Anna was wounded, her shirt was torn and she was covered in small cuts. She was scared out of her mind.

"What are those things?" she said.

"Demons…" said Sam ignoring the look Anna gave him when he said it.

"What? You're kidding right, this is just some Halloween joke," she laughed nervously.

Sam gave her a stern and serious glare. It was important that she understood, otherwise she could end up dead.

"You're serious, you can't be… I mean, this isn't possible… I…"

The demon's were approaching, growling menacingly and slashing branches that got in their way.

They were in the graveyard, cornered by the armored demons. One of them stepped forward and removed it's helmet, and glared at him. He had a human face that looked as if he had been hit with spade and he had a broad chin, flat nose, no hair and pitch black eyes.

"Did you really think you could defeat me mortal?" shouted the man in a deep voice.

Sam looked up at him and pleaded, "Let her go, she has nothing to do with this…"

"Oh, I think she does. I sense that you feel for her. It's a pity really, she's such a beautiful girl."

"No… please…"

The man drew back his sword and lanced it though her stomach. Sam watched in terror as he saw the one he loved most in the world fall to the ground as the man withdrew his sword and laughed insanely. Her eyes were absent of the brightness that used to inhabit them. She was dead. Sam screamed. 

***

He regained his focus devastated at what he just remembered. Buffy was walking towards him and he felt a sudden stab of fear, because just behind her, gliding eerily was one of the guards he and Tara encountered in Hell, with it's menacing sword raised. It brought the sword down and ran it through Buffy's stomach, the guard held it there for a few seconds and then drew it out of her, and she slumped to the ground while Tara screamed. The guard made towards Sam, but he was prepared, he held out his hand and a wave of flames struck the cloaked menace. It turn away, wailing as it dropped it's sword and tried pointlessly to put out the fire. It wailed once more and faded into the night. 

Sam looked around for Tara and found her over Buffy's body with her hands on Buffy's large wound, there was a warm glow surrounding them. Sam figured that Tara was attempting a healing spell, David told him this was one of the hardest forms of magic which Sam never mastered, he only remembered being able to heal small cuts and bruises. He walked towards them and looked at Tara who he could see was being weakened by the spell. He looked at the wound in Buffy's stomach and to his surprise most of it had healed, there was only a small gash left. He looked at Tara, impressed and amazed.

"Hello Tara," said Sam.

She ignored him, apparently concentrating on healing the remnants of the wound on Buffy, which healed a few seconds later.

"Wow. Is she gonna be OK?" Sam asked.

"Y…yes she'll b… be fine. She's a f… fast healer so she s…should be awake soon," muttered Tara.

"What happened to you? You didn't seem to be able to…"

"I…. I was their so l… long, since I…"

She pointed to her heart and opened her shirt at bit so Sam could see a small scar. It looked like a bullet wound.

"I was in a place, it was so beautiful, so peaceful, I felt complete and I felt happy. B… but something happened, something bad and I woke up in t… that cell."

"I'm sure we can figure out what happened but I think we should get out of here incase there are more of those… those things," said Sam.

Tara agreed and together they hoisted Buffy over their shoulders and started to move as fast as they can to the nearest exit. Sam was wondering about something.

"Tara…" said Sam

"Yes?" 

"Why did you say '_Willow_', when…"

Tara smiled and stuttered, "S…she's my… my…"

Tara paused for a moment and then said clearly, "She's my everything."

Sam assumed that they were involved in someway and he knew how she felt. Anna was his everything, but that man took her away from him. Whoever killed her will have hell to pay.


End file.
